Jump to content
Washington Football Team Logo
Extremeskins

ES: Art Monk: "We were like orphans"


themurf

Recommended Posts

monk040810.jpg

(photo by Brian Murphy)

On the day Bruce Allen took over as vice president and general manager of the Washington Redskins, he made it a point to talk about the franchise’s rich and storied history.

Allen spoke of growing up a Redskins fan and admitted that this organization meant more to him than any other team in the National Football League.

Listening to him that day, it was easy to hear how much those “good old days” truly meant to him. And while Allen looked forward to the challenge of getting the franchise back to a championship level, he also said he wanted to create an environment in which those great players from yesterday were brought back into the fold.

Thursday, Allen took a big first step in the right direction, inviting more than 60 former Redskins players out to Redskins Park during minicamp for an alumni day. As simple as it sounds, having a bunch of old timers get together to shoot the breeze and watch a practice, it’s something that hasn’t been done since Daniel Snyder took over ownership of the team.

For many of the former players, this simple gesture meant more than we could ever image.

“This is great,” said Hall of Famer Art Monk. “To be able to come back, reminisce and tell old stories and see the guys you used to play with. You also get to meet some of the guys who played before you that you had only heard about. We’re a family, and it’s a shame that we haven’t been able to do something like this before.”

Talking with many of the alumni, it’s easy to see that they do feel like the Redskins are a family. Unfortunately, it’s been more of an estranged family over the last decade or so. How much did it mean to get that phone call from Bruce Allen to try and repair that relationship?

“It means a lot,” said Monk. “Talking with the guys, the general consensus is that we felt like orphans being kept outside the fence all these years. Now, to be able to reconnect with the team and the current players, I think is a good thing.

“You know, when I came to this team in 1980, the old guys were always around,” he continued. “Guys like Roy Jefferson and Charlie Taylor coached me and we really got to know them. We heard the stories about the amount of money they made or what they went through and I think it’s important for the current players to understand and appreciate what they now have. That’s been missing around here for a long time. Hopefully this is the beginning of something good.”

Obviously you and Donovan McNabb have the Syracuse connection. Do you have a relationship with any of the other current Redskins?

Click here for the full article.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for a great read.

George Starke: "that Vinny guy" :ols:

I love this move and I'm really looking forward to seeing the alums work with the current players. I'm hoping we hear more about that as we get into the season.

I'm proud to be part of a fanbase that holds its player alums in such high regard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could write about this gathering every day until the season started and it still wouldn't get old.

"Allen was then asked why he felt the need to reach out to the former players.

“I don’t think it’s a need,” he said. “I think it’s the right thing"

That right there so perfectly encapsulates what this means and what we have lacked for so long. Having a GM that genuinely understands the history of the team and the debt owed to all its alumni is something that no one would have believed a year ago. It is plain this was sincere, they didn't just call up Art Monk, they called everyone! Brig Owens, Ricky Ervins, Pat Fischer- the guest list is the history of the franchise. I am praying that this is all real, they we have honestly turned a corner on the way things are run, and the orphaned fans can return the same way the alumni did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think its a great idea for Allen to get the former players involved more with the team. Like I said in another thread, the Yankees have older timers day when all the Yankee alums go out to Yankee Stadium and hang out. It sounded like Allen wanted to have a "homecoming" of sorts during the season, which I think is pretty cool. I think it would be cool to see Fletcher and Harvey hanging out or Samuels and the Hogs. Allen seems to be doing all these things for a reason and I can't disagree with anything he's done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Snyder should take some of those Club Level seats and create a former player zone. Make it easy for them to be around each gameday and the fans might just get and extra thrill coming to the games... it would incease the likelyhood you might just walk into the stadium next to a former Hogg of Smurf or... :)

Peace and Pleasure

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you Murf for every word of this. I know we're all glad that Snyder has done the right thing in hiring a competent GM and ceding all football matters to him but he doesn't get a complete pass in my book for bungling nearly everything Redskins in his first decade's stewardship of this organization.

When Art Monk says things like

"the general consensus is that we felt like orphans being kept outside the fence all these years"

"We’re a family, and it’s a shame that we haven’t been able to do something like this before"

"That’s been missing around here for a long time”

we should all listen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This will have a ripple effect (positive) on fans and players. I see the alum getting more involved with pumping up the current players and offfering wisdom. I watched the tape on Redskins Nation last night and every one of the alums they spoke to were very happy to be there. I think they were even suprised by the turnout.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As much as i feel very proud to be a fan of the Washington Redskins, and I am proud of the way the franchise is going now, it is going forward due to people being hired "WHO GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE FRANCHISE AND THE TEAM" and at the base of all this the one man who made all this possible is the owner Mr Daniel Snyder, he fired Vinny and hired Bruce: he fired Zorn and hired Coach Shanahan. In some short 7 months the whole environment has changed at the club, despair has been replaced with hope, the inept replaced with the professional, and its obvious the players have a much better attitude, and are willing to perform. Anyone who takes us lightly this next season is gunna spanked so bad they wont be able to sit down for weeks, and that is the way it should be.

Hail the skins

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In all honesty, how is it possible that this was not already occurring? It's mind-blowing.

I went to law school in Pittsburgh. And the old Steelers were around so much that it was actually rather depressing. I mean, shouldn't they have something else to do with their time? But the fans seemed to eat it up. It just seems like such an obvious way to create goodwill and make money without really having to do anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A standing ovation for Mr. Allen bringing back the family atmosphere to Ashburn. The presence of Monk, The Hogs, etc. will carry over that positive atmosphere not only to the players, but to the whole organization as well. :applause:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you think they pay these guys to come hangout at the park? I would guess so.. It's definitely worth every penny, having people like Art Monk hang around your "young" recievers.

With so many HOFers apart of this franchise' past, it's hard to believe that they've yet to be invited to remain apart of this great organization. I mean.. never? wow..

We may forever be in debt to Mr. Allen for turning this ship around and "saving" something that we all love a whole lot.

I really feel this is a special time to be a Redskin.

And I really feel this is a special time to be a Redskin Fan. :)

Hail!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bruce Allen is making the Skins feel like family again and thats awesome. I grew up in Northern Virginia in Sterling during the Gibbs glory years and back then you felt like part of a family being a Redskins fan. You would see the players out all over the place, my uncle lived down the street from Brian Mitchell and my dad made eye glasses for Art Monk. The players didn't feel like strangers. The last decade or so people have made fun of the Skins and Skins fans that would have never happened in the past. The fans are always like family but we've been without the main memebers. Now that Bruce Allen is here hopefully all that will change, it seems as if he's taken a big step in the right direction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They were orphaned. That's absolutely what happened. I think the new regime has done more in 6 months to show Snyder how a real NFL team looks than Vinny did in a decade. That's really sad.

QFT

We finally have people running the show that understand how to build a franchise. The attitude that Bruce and Mike have brought to this team has me more excited than any big name FA we have brought in for the last few years.

I say few years because I was always a bit excited about the big name FA's, but over time you finally realize that a team simply cannot be built in that manner. We have absolutely nothing to show for the huge contracts that Snyder has been handing out.

We can finally start building a team now.

1254538006227.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, ART MONK said that he felt like he wasnt wanted at Redskins Park.... that hurts

Seeing the way things are operating now, the way the should be, makes me realize even more how bad this franchise as a whole has been the past ten years. Im really glad to have Bruce running the show

I must also keep in mind that this site shuts down at 3AM every day, yet for some reason I always forget and try to post

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...